Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye has hinted he is looking to leave
this summer after a disappointing campaign in which the club only narrowly
avoided relegation.

Cabaye chose his words carefully in an interview with Canal+ in France, but admitted he would go on holiday after France’s international against Uruguay and Brazil and “let my agents work for me”.

He added: “For the moment I am at Newcastle, you never know what happens in football. I am here at the moment, the season is not finished as I have still two matches [for France].

“After that I’m going on holiday and it can’t come soon enough to clear my head of the difficult season we have just had, and I let my agents work for me.

“I have had no direct contact with anyone, maybe my agents are currently in the know. As for me, I am here, listening, I like England as well. I will need to look at the situation, but you never know.”

The Daily Telegraph revealed on April 29 that Cabaye had privately admitted to team-mates he would like to quit St James’ Park, but even if he does hanker for a move, Newcastle will not be easy to deal with.

Cabaye was superb in his first season in England following a £4.8 million move from Lille, but lost form last term and was not the same enthusiastic character behind the scenes, often moaning about the team’s situation. Newcastle will ask for a fee of around £20 million to part with a player who has another three years remaining on his contract.

Newcastle rejected an inquiry from Tottenham Hotspur for Cabaye last summer and both Paris St-Germain and Monaco have been credited with a desire to take the midfielder back to France.

Manchester United have also been sporadically linked with the 27-year-old over the past 12 months and, asked whether he would be interested in a move to Old Trafford, Cabaye replied: “Yes of course, I like this club for a long time.”

Cabaye also moved to absolve Newcastle’s French players of blame for Newcastle’s poor campaign and insisted the team had remained united despite The Daily Telegraph’s revelations about growing tension in the dressing room.

“I don’t think you can blame all the negative results on this mass arrival [of French players],” he added.

“The club did all it could to make them feel comfortable as possible; they always gave them an interpreter. But maybe that was a necessary evil because they would often rely on the interpreter to speak French and then it’s still difficult in terms of language. But as a group there have never been tensions or bad feeling, quite the opposite.”